Arafat's wife locks horns with leadership

Palestinian leaders arrived in France last night in an attempt to establish the true state of Yasser Arafat's health, despite the objections of his wife, who has accused them of planning to "bury him alive".

But doctors at the Percy military hospital in Paris appeared to pre-empt the leadership's plans to see Mr Arafat by announcing that he was unfit to receive visitors.

The prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, and the acting head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Mahmoud Abbas, are seeking to discover whether the Palestinian leader is likely to recover from an as yet undiagnosed illness.

The visit was prompted by contradictory statements about the 75-year-old Palestinian leader's health, from claims that he is brain dead to assertions that he is in a reversible coma, because his wife, Suha, has blocked access to almost everyone but doctors and refused to allow the hospital to reveal details of his condition.

Under the Palestinian basic law, if four doctors certified that Mr Arafat was permanently incapacitated he would be removed from his post as president of the Palestinian Authority.

Yesterday, Mrs Arafat tried to stop the visit with an agitated phone call to al-Jazeera television in which she denounced the emerging Palestinian leadership.

"Let it be known to the honest Palestinian people that a bunch of those who want to inherit are coming to Paris trying to bury Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat] alive," she said.

"I appeal to the Palestinian people to be aware of the scope of the conspiracy. I tell you they are trying to bury Abu Ammar alive. Abu Ammar is well and he is coming back to his homeland."

Mr Qureia and Mr Abbas doubt that Mr Arafat is well and coming back alive.

On Sunday, the French foreign minister, Michel Barnier, described Mr Arafat's condition as "very complex, very serious and stable at the time we are speaking".

The hospital said yesterday that Mr Arafat remained in intensive care and his condition was unchanged.

Immediately after Mrs Arafat's outburst, the prime minister and his colleagues called off their trip. But a cabinet meeting several hours later decided that the fate of the Palestinian leader concerned more people than just his wife.

"We express our utmost regret at the comments made by sister Suha," Mr Qureia said before the meeting in Ramallah. "[Arafat] belongs to the Palestinian people. Mr Arafat left for Paris under arrangements made by the Palestinian Authority.

"Mr Arafat was received in France as a Palestinian and Arab leader."

The Palestinian delegation plans to meet the French president, Jacques Chirac, and Mr Barnier. But there is no guarantee they will see Mr Arafat as, under French law, his wife can decide who visits him.

Mrs Arafat has rigidly controlled access to her husband's hospital room, fuelling speculation that he is in a worse condition than she is prepared to admit publicly.

The tone of her comments has added to concerns that, despite the denials, Mr Arafat is being kept alive artificially.

The al-Jazeera interview was widely condemned by a Palestinian establishment that has generally avoided public criticism of Mrs Arafat, although she is widely scorned in private for a lavish lifestyle in Paris funded by her husband's secret bank accounts.

Mrs Arafat left Ramallah at the beginning of the intifada four years ago and there is resentment that a woman who has taken little part in the struggle now seeks to isolate the Palestinian leader from his colleagues.

"Yasser Arafat is not the private property of Suha Arafat," said Sufian Abu Zaida, a deputy minister. "It's an absurd situation that Suha is sitting there and deciding when, how and who."

"For two weeks the Palestinian people have been wondering about the health of their leader. It's their right to know. Arafat is a father and a husband, but he's also a chief of state. Arafat belongs to the people," she said.

Mrs Ashrawi said Mrs Arafat's comments were "divisive" at a time when the Palestinian leadership has been trying to ensure a smooth transition of power.